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Final Score: Tampa Bay 1 - Toronto 3

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - A.J. Burnett struck out 10 over seven strong innings, outdueling James Shields in a 3-1 win for the Toronto Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a three-game set.

Burnett (12-9) allowed only one run on six hits with four walks for Toronto, which has won six of seven. The right-hander matched his career-high for wins in a season.

Matt Stairs' two-run homer in the fifth inning was the big blow for Toronto, which made the most of its five hits.

Shields (9-7) gave up three runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out five with no walks to take the loss for the Rays. An RBI groundout by Carlos Pena provided the lone run for first-place Tampa Bay, which left nine runners on base as it lost its second straight.

The Rays, who have dropped nine of 11 on the road, were also limited to a run in a 6-1 loss at Kansas City on Sunday.

Tampa maintained its one-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East, as Boston lost to the Angels, 7-5 on Monday as well.

Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, the Blue Jays jumped in front with one big swing by Stairs. Rod Barajas led off the frame with a single to right, and Stairs lifted a long fly ball out to straightaway center, his 11th homer of the season.

"He's one of the toughest pitchers in the league," Stairs said of Shields. "Whenever you can get a sinker up a little bit ... I was fortunate to barrel it out of the ballpark and get a 2-1 lead."

B.J. Upton worked a one-out walk in the seventh for the Rays, and stole second. Carl Crawford struck out, but the pitch from Burnett was wild, allowing Crawford to reach first and Upton to head to third, bringing Evan Longoria to the plate.

Longoria grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, though, ending the threat with Toronto still holding a 2-1 lead.

"We always try to play hard, we've just got to execute," said Crawford of Tampa's offensive struggles. "Once we do that better, I think our chances will be better. We're just struggling to get the offense going."

Consecutive triples by Brad Wilkerson and Joe Inglett plated the third run for Toronto in the eighth, and B.J. Ryan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save of the season.

Tampa loaded the bases against Burnett with two outs in the first, but Jason Bartlett grounded out to first to end that threat.

Akinori Iwamura and Upton rapped consecutive singles to start the third, and moved up on Burnett's throwing error on a grounder by Crawford, loading the bases with no outs. Longoria struck out, though, and Pena's groundout to first plated Iwamura for 1-0 Rays lead. Cliff Floyd then struck out as Burnett limited the damage to one run.